Fire hoses are coupled together with fire hose couplings. These couplings are well known in the art. Typically, one side of a coupling has an expansion ring to attach the coupling to its respective hose. On the other side of the coupling are usually a set of internal or external threads for fastening the coupling to complementary (external or internal) threads of another coupling. In addition to these male and female couplings, there also exist so-called “sexless couplings” such as the Storz-style couplings which employ shanks and clamps to attach to the hose and interconnecting lugs to fasten one coupling to another. The Storz-style couplings may include locking levers to lock these couplings together so as to preclude the couplings from becoming accidentally disconnected.
When operating at night or in conditions of poor visibility, however, these locking levers may be difficult to find or locate. When visibility is poor, a firefighter typically relies on tactile sensation (touch) to find the levers. However, this is particularly difficult when wearing firefighting gloves.
Accordingly, a need remains for an improved fire hose coupling that addresses this technical problem.